Smiling broadly, his chest festooned with medals, General Romeo Vasquez Velasquez, head of the armed forces of Honduras, stood beside Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo as the latter was sworn in as President of Honduras on January 27.

"The colonial state died. The new pluri-national, autonomous, and solidarity-based state is being born," asserted President Evo Morales at his inauguration January 22, after being elected along with Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera to a new five year term.